STACEY'S WEDDING - A BSC 10 YEAR REUNION SPINOFF!
by MissHWrites
Summary: After the Stoneybrook High School 10 year reunion brought all of the members of the BSC together for the first time in years, they all made a promise to see each other more often and it was one they all intended to keep. Luckily for all of them just 3 months later in April, another invitation gave them a perfect reason to do so..and sooner than they could have ever imagined!
1. Chapter 1

**_David Adams and Stacey McGill formally invite you to their wedding, June 16 at Calamigos Ranch in Malibu, California. Please join us for our wedding in the garden, with an outdoor reception to follow._**

An exhausted Stacey McGill sat at her kitchen table and sealed the final wedding invitation envelope, in what seemed like a stack of 500, although it was just about 50. It was the final step in the whirlwind of rush planning that Stacey and David had to do to be able to get married so soon. She split the stack evenly, held one in each hand and walked outside to her mailbox, put the stacks inside and put up the red flag up before closing it. She said to herself, "well, here goes" and walked back to the house. Now she just had to wait for the responses to start coming in..


	2. Chapter 2

"Thank you very much, Miss McGill" said Dana, the wedding coordinator, as Stacey handed her a check. "Is there anything else I can help you with or show you?" Stacey thought for a minute before saying "No, I don't think so" and then turned to Claudia, who had joined her that afternoon for a tour of the ranch and wedding venue and asked "how about you?"

"I think we're good here" answered Claudia.

"Alright, then. So we'll have one more meeting with you and David a week before the wedding to go over all the final details and then your wedding rehearsal will be the day before at 3:30" said Dana.

"Perfect" said Stacey. Dana extended her hand to shake Stacey's and said "it's been a pleasure working with you, Stacey. The wedding is going to be GORGEOUS, trust me." She then smiled before turning to Claudia and saying "it was very nice to meet you as well, Claudia. Stacey is very lucky to have such an involved maid of honor."

"Aww, thanks" said Claudia.

"Ok. Bye ladies" she said. "See you soon."

"Bye" said Stacey as her and walked back to Claudia's car. After they were sitting down and buckled in, Claudia started the car and asked "Where to now?"

"I don't know. I'm kind of tired" replied Stacey.

"Well, you can't put off shopping for your dress forever, Stace, and we're already in Malibu. Why don't we check out some of the cute shops at the Malibu Country Mart and see if we can find anything?" asked Claudia. While it certainly wasn't as much fun for Stacey now that she was very pregnant and couldn't dress as cute as she used to, she was never one to pass up shopping and said to Claudia, "oh alright."

It didn't take them too long to get there and they enjoyed casually walking around, chatting about the baby and the wedding details and what not. They had been window shopping for about 20 minutes before a store with adorable beach attire in the window finally caught Claudia's eye. "Calypso St. Barth's" she said out loud. "This place looks cool. Come on Stace" as she pulled on her wrist to go inside the shop.

"For a wedding dress?" asked Stacey.

"Um, no." said Claudia. "For me."

Stacey laughed and said "Fine." If she couldn't find anything in that store, she could at least have fun watching Claudia try on clothes. After about 5 minutes of browsing the racks, pulling several pieces of clothing for a closer look before putting it back, Claudia said, "You know, this place is a bit too casual and..pastely for me. I think I'm done here." While Stacey also thought the place didn't suit Claudia, it was definitely HER type of store and said "I agree..but can we stay and browse a bit? I know I can't fit into any of this stuff right now but I actually like this place."

"Of course!" said Claudia. "Stay as long as you want. I'll go check out the jewelry at the counter. Some of that stuff looks cute" and she walked away.

As Stacey meandered around the store for a bit, staring at the beautiful clothes, hoping she would be able to fit into stuff like that again. Suddenly Claudia came up behind her holding up something on a hanger and saying "Stacey! I found something for you!" Stacey turned around and saw that Claudia was holding what looked like a caftan which was an off white tan color and had gold and shiny polka dots all over. The material was beautiful but Stacey had no idea when or WHY she would ever wear that and said to Claudia "A mumu? Really? I know I'm huge but could you be a little nicer?"

"Oh, quit it" said Claudia. You aren't huge and THIS is a caftan" as she held it up higher.

Stacey replied "I know it's a caftan, Claud..but is there much of a difference?"

"Maaaybe" she said, adding, "can you please do me a favor and try it on? I saw it and..it just seems like your dress."

"You mean, you think I should wear this thing to my wedding?!" exclaimed Stacey.

"Please, hear me out and try it on would you?" asked Claudia.

Feeling annoyed, not so much at Claudia but more at her current predicament and sighed, saying "fine, but only because you're my bestie and you asked me to."

"Good. Get in there" said Claudia as she gestured toward the fitting rooms.

Stacey walked over to them, followed by Claudia holding the garment. Once there, Stacey turned around and took the dress from Claudia saying "I'll be right out" and shut the door behind her. Still feeling frustrated about needing a dress soon and feeling very insecure lately, Stacey reluctantly got undressed and put the the caftan over her head and pulled it down to cover her body. She looked in the mirror and while she still thought the material and the design, which as she looked closer, looked more like brush stroked comma shapes rather than polka dots was quite beautiful, she looked shapeless and huge with the material draped over her..and she hated it. Still, she opened the door to Claudia who was still standing there and said "are you happy? I look ridiculous."

Claudia brought both hands to her lips in a praying position and said excitedly, "No you don't. It's perfect!"

Stacey gave Claudia a puzzled look and asked, "um, Claudia..who in their right mind would wear a tent as a wedding dress?"

Claudia took Stacey by the shoulders and gently turned her back around to face the mirror, saying "Shhh. Now look, we pull these sleeves up a bit" as she pulled them up Stacey's arms to just past her elbow and said "and we can add a little ruffle to the edges" she added. "Theeeen..we pull this up and tighten it" and then reached around Stacey's waist to put a slight fold in the material, creating a line and pulling over the top of Stacey's stomach, creating an empire waist line. "Now you can show off your tummy and it looks BEAUTIFUL." In an instant, Claudia had turned a mumu into a perfect, flowy maternity wedding dress. The wedding dress that Stacey was so desperate to find and she was left speechless for a second before then saying to her friend, "Claudia! You're a genius!"

"Um, no, definitely not a genius" laughed Claudia, adding "but I AM an artist."

"Yes you are" proclaimed Stacey, adding "but how are you going to do it? You dont sew."

"No, but Melissa does" Claudia said, referring to her boss' wife who designs clothes.

"Who?" asked Stacey?

"My boss' wife, Stacey. She made my reunion dress, remember?" answered Claudia.

Stacey's mind flashed back to a few months when her and all her friends went to their high school reunion in Connecticut and to Claudia's amazing custom dress.

"Oh yeah" said Stacey, then realizing that she was going to get an awesome dress too, asked "she'll do that for ME?"

"If I ask her, sure" said Claudia. "Like I said, she pulled my dress together in two days. So it's settled? You actually found your dress?"

Stacey grinned and said "I think I did. Thank you so much."

As Stacey took off her future wedding dress and pulled back on her dark blue maternity jeans and white button up maternity blouse, she placed the dress back on the hanger and glimpsed at the price tag, which read $450. Stacey's throat tightened up as she thought to herself "$450? For a thin piece of fabric?!" and immediately went from feeling excited to being filled with utter disappointment, Stacey opened the dressing room door and said to Claudia "I can't get this. It's $450 dollars."

"Ouch" said Claudia, adding "but this is Malibu."

"You made this dress look beautiful but I can't justify spending that amount of money on chffon" said Stacey.

"Stace, it's not like Dave wouldn't pay for it" said Claudia.

Stacey replied and said "I know he would, but I need to contribute to this wedding too. I just..I can't get this dress."

"Are you sure?" asked Claudia.

"Unfortunately" said a devastated Stacey as she put the dress on the hook in the fitting room.

"Ok, well..I'm really sorry about this" said Claudia. "Hey, why don't we get some lunch or something?"

"Sure" said Stacey and she walked out the door with Claudia.


	3. Chapter 3

They were almost back to Claudia's car before Stacey heard her fumbling around inside her purse.

"What are you doing?" asked Stacey.

"Um, I think I..forgot.." before her voice trailed off.

"Forgot what?" asked Stacey.

Claudia answered "My..uhh..my glasses! I forgot my sunglasses."

"You did?" asked Stacey. "I could have sworn you were wearing them when we left."

"No. Nope. I forgot them. Wait Here!" said Claudia she suddenly tossed her car keys to Stacey, who somehow managed to catch them.

"Okay" said Stacey who was a bit weirded out by Claudia's sudden and strange behavior but she let herself in the car and sat in the passenger seat, turned the air conditioning on and waited patiently for Claudia, who eventually came back close to 10 minutes later, sneaking up behind the back of the car and quickly opening her trunk, followed by a thud sound, which Stacey assumed was Claudia's purse and then the closing her trunk. Claudia sat down in the driver's seat and said "sorry about that.

"Did you find your glasses? asked Stacey.

Claudia answered "Oh. Um, yeah. I found them."

Stacey noticed she wasn't wearing them and asked "Where are they?"

Claudia seemed like she was struggling to talk for a second before answering, "They must be in my purse. It's in the trunk but it's ok" as she pulled down the visor and pulled her car out of the parking lot and back on to the Pacific Coast Highway. Stacey was a little concerned about the way Claudia was acting and while she knew that Claudia got a little loopy from the pain medication she occasionally took, Stacey knew she would never drive under the influence and then thought the worst: that maybe Claudia's cancer was in her brain and it was making her act weird. She knew that was a pretty far-fetched idea but she was always a bit on edge when it came to Claudia's well being. Still, she kept her mouth shut. Once they saw another small shopping center along the way, Claudia pulled into it to check out potential lunch spots but as she drove along, most of what she saw looked like expensive fancy joints, Stacey thinking the same because she said out loud, "I don't think any of these places are going to work. I don't want to spend $100 on lunch."

Claudia said "me neither but let's keep looking" as she passed by a sign that said "Malibu Yogurt" and then a grocery store and once they passed that, Claudia breathed a sigh of relief when she saw a Subway. " Oh, Thank God! You cool with that?" she asked Stacey.

"Yes. Subway is perfect" she answered.

"Ok then. 5 dollar footlongs, here we come!" said Claudia.

After they had gotten their sandwiches, a meatball sub for Claudia and a veggie patty for Stacey, who was supposed to stay away from cold cuts while pregnant, they sat down at a two person table outside, enjoying the nice ocean breeze which was a good 10 degrees cooler than the San Fernando Valley where Stacey lived. They continued chatting and Stacey noticed that Claudia seemed to be returning to normal but decided to ask "how are you feeling lately?"

"Uh, fine" answered Claudia, looking a bit perplexed and Stacey decided that wasn't the right time to talk about her concerns so she didn't say anything else. Claudia then said "Hey, I saw a yogurt shop a few doors down. What do you say?"

Stacey thought for a minute and knew that her 6 inch sub would only sustain her and her little fetus for a few hours so she said, "sure, why not?"

Once they turned the corner to get to the yogurt shop, they saw the line was out of the door by about 4 people. "Wow" said Claudia. " This place must be good."

"Um, this place BETTER be good is more like it" said Stacey.

As they patiently waited in line, Claudia asked "Hey, do you think Dawn will be able to come to the wedding?"

"Actually, she already rsvp'd" said Stacey.

"Did she really?" asked Claudia

She answered "I'm sorry. Yeah, I forgot to tell you. I got her card last week and she called me too. She wanted to make sure it was ok to bring the baby."

"Cool" said Claudia. " Did she send you that picture of him the other day too?" referring to River, Dawn's newborn son.

"Oh my goodness, yes!" exclaimed Stacey. " How cute is HE?"

"Darling" answered Claudia. "I'm so excited to meet him."

While the line shortened, Stacey began to get a bit of heartburn, normal for her during this stage of pregnancy but noticed a slight ache in her joints too, a familiar feeling she hated and what prompted her to check her pump that was clipped to her belt. Her blood sugar read "288."

"Dammit!" said Stacey out loud.

"What?!" asked an alarmed Claudia.

"I'm sorry. My blood sugar is just a bit high" said Stacey.

"Oh no" said Claudia. "Are you alright?"

Stacey calmly answered "Oh, it's fine. I just can't get any yogurt."

"Ok. Well let's go, then" said Claudia.

"It's fine, Claud. Get some. I don't care." Stacey said truthfully. It's not like she hadn't spent a lifetime turning down goodies. Now that she was almost 30, she could care less.

Claudia chose a pumpkin pie flavored soft serve and had it covered with a mountain of oreo's and crumbled reese's peanut butter cups. Stacey looked at Claudia as she was handed the cup, shook her head and just said "Nice, Claudia."

Luckily for them, there were actually two open seats in the yogurt shop and they immediately took advantage of that and both plopped down so they could relax and continue their conversation about Dawn's new baby but before they could, Claudia told Stacey. "Oh, by the way, I have a little something for you."

"Oh really" asked Stacey. "What might that be?"

"It's in the car. I'll be right back" said Claudia as she bolted out of the shop.

Stacey assumed it was just some of knicknack gift or maybe some kind of maid of honor type of thing she wasn't aware of.

When Claudia returned, she had a huge grin on her face and was carrying a large white handled shopping bag. She handed it to Stacey and said "here you go."

Stacey took the bag and upon further inspection, saw the gold cursive lettering on the bag which read "Calypso St. Barth's."

"Claudia..what is-" Stacey started to say, before Claudia interrupted and said "just open it."

Stacey did as she was told and took out the tissue paper. Then she looked inside to see the caftan she had tried on just about an hour earlier. The caftan she decided she couldn't afford.

"Claudia!" Shrieked Stacey. "What have you done!?"

"It's your wedding present. From me. Well, me and Frankie" she said with a smile.

Stacey said "Oh my goodness. This is so generous but..you don't have this kind of money. I'm sorry but I know..and YOU know that you don't have this kind of money.

"Nope, not really. But you're my best friend. I wanted to do this. I ran back to the store and I called Frankie first. He was ok with it. Please, let me do this for you."

Stacey then realized THAT was why Claudia was acting weird and she felt hot tears fill her eyes as she looked at a blurry Claudia and asked "Are you sure?"

Claudia answered "more than anything. Take it."

Stacey reached over, enveloped her friend in a big hug and began sobbing and dripping tears down Claudia's back saying in between sobs "Thank you. So much."

Once the waterworks were under control and Stacey had calmed down, they headed back to Stacey's house to drop her off. Once they arrived and Claudia pulled into the driveway, she said "Okay lady. I'll see ya later."

Stacey grabbed the shopping bag, got out of the car and said "thanks again, hon. This was so awesome of you to get this dress for me."

"You're so welcome, bestie but just one thing" said Claudia.

"What's that?" asked Stacey.

"Can I have it back now?" she asked.

Stacey laughed and said "Oh yeah. Sorry!" as she handed the bag to Claudia, who then said "I'll have Melissa take a look at to make sure that she can work with the material and then we'll have to get you over to her studio at some point to get measured."

"Ok. That sounds good." said Stacey.

Claudia added "we should probably wait until the end of next month though, since you'll be getting bigger."

"Good idea" said Stacey, adding "alright. We'll talk soon. Bye."

"Bye" said Claudia and she sped off in her blue car. As Stacey walked up her driveway, she thanked her lucky stars for a friend like Claudia. As she was about to put the key in the door, she remembered that she better check her mail for more rsvps and walked back down the driveway to the mailbox. After pulling out the envelopes inside, it just appeared to be bills and ads so she began rifling through all of them as she walked back up the driveway. Just as she was about to reach the door again, a tiny cream colored envelope poked out, stuck in between two other envelopes. "There we go" thought Stacey as she opened it. There, in big bold sharpie letters was a large check mark in the "yes" box and underneath in the name portion, it read "Kristy Thomas" with "I can't wait! XOXO" written on the bottom.

"YES!" shouted Stacey. They got their wedding venue, Claudia found her a wedding dress and now three of the four members of the BSC were attending her wedding. Stacey hoped this was just the beginning of good things to come as she walked inside her house and shut the door.


	4. Chapter 4

Stacey walked inside her home, being careful not to trip over any of Dave's boxes strewn about her living room. He had recently moved into her house after not renewing his apartment lease, intending to buy a new home with Stacey sooner than later.

Hanging out in an empty and quiet house all day was something Stacey was still getting used to, as she had to quit her teaching job a little over a month prior and has spent a lot of time relaxing at home. She wanted to try her best to stick it out until June but seeing as she would be 7 months pregnant by then, there was no way she could hide it and she had to protect her fiance. Now that Stacey was gone, the secret didn't take long to spread around the school but nothing could happen to Dave now that she was no longer an employee. Still, Stacey was worried about him losing the respect of the faculty and students but after talking to a few other teachers that were friends of hers, she was reassured that it wasn't a big deal to anyone and people were just happy that Principal Adams was happy and in love. In fact, several teachers and a few folks from the administration office were planning to attend their wedding.

With a month and a half to go before the wedding, Stacey had only one more Cobra health Insurance payment to make before she would be able to get on Dave's plan and she could just relax, enjoy those last two months of her pregnancy, subsequent (hopefully) wedded bliss and settle into her new life with her new family.

By the time she got home, it was almost 2:30 and Stacey didn't need to leave to pick Ava up for another hour and a half so she took that time to relax and put her feet up. She sat down on her L- shaped couch, propped up her feet and turned on the TV but it didn't take long before her eyelids began drooping and she was struggling to keep them open. As hard as she tried, things began fading before her eyes snapped open and she bolted up. "No!" she thought to herself as she pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time: 4:15!

"Crap!" said Stacey out loud. She was supposed to pick Ava up around 4. The preschool after care wouldn't be closed for a while but since she wasn't working anymore, Stacey liked to get her between 3:30 and 4. She blinked hard a few times, trying to wake up a little more before she stood up. Since she knew she'd already be late, she went to her fridge, opened it up and grabbed the bottle of the Starbucks cold brew, even though it was Dave's. She tried her best to minimize her coffee intake while pregnant but she had to drive and needed to wake up a bit more so she popped the top off and opened her cupboard to grab a packet of stevia, which she sprinkled inside before grabbing her keys & purse and heading out of the door to get Ava.

When she walked in to the school, she immediately saw Miss Ashley, the school's director and longtime friend of Stacey from their days together at UCLA. In fact, that's what made Stacey choose that pre-school to begin with.

"Hi Stacey!" she said.

"Hey Ash" she said back. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good. How about YOU? "You look so good!" she replied.

"Aww, you're so sweet. I'm doing ok, thank you" said Stacey.

"How's the wedding planning going? " asked Ashley.

Stacey replied "Oh, we're pretty much done. We're just waiting for our last few rsvp's to come in before we work on our seating arrangements."

"That's awesome. I can't wait!" said Ashley, who was obviously invited.

"How was Ava today?" asked Stacey.

"She was good. She's always good" replied Ashley.

Stacey smiled and said "Well, I better go grab her. I'll see you later."

"Bye!" said Ashley and she walked away and back into her office.

Stacey walked down the hall to Ava's classroom and opened the door to see her daughter having fun and playing as usual. "Ava!" said Stacey.

"Mommy!" she squealed as she ran up to her and hugged her around her legs, since Stacey had a hard time squatting down to hug her daughter like she used to. On the drive back home, Stacey had her usual mother/daughter chatting as she made a little detour to Wendy's to pick up some kind of salad, as she felt like she needed a light and healthy dinner. By the time they got home, she saw Dave's car in the driveway as she pulled up past it and drove into the 1 car garage. Using the garage entrance to the house that led directly into her kitchen, she saw Dave was already at the stove, stirring something in a big pot. As soon as he heard her walk in, he looked up and said "hey babe."

"Davey! Davey!" shouted Ava before Stacey could say hi back and she ran up to give her future stepfather a hug and he kissed her on the top of her head before telling her, "I'm making macaroni and cheese for dinner. Does that sound good?"

"Yes!" she replied in her adorable high pitched voice. "I love mockin cheese!" in her usual mispronounced way of talking. He looked at Stacey and and asked "and you?"

She replied "I picked up a salad. My numbers have been a bit high all day so no carbs for me."

"No problem" he said as he looked at Ava and said to her "more for us!"

As they ate dinner at their table, they both focused on Ava, having a 4 year old level conversation to keep her happy and entertained. Once they were done eating, Stacey asked "sweetie, can we do your bath tonight?"

"Why?" asked Ava, who was used to morning baths.

Stacey answered "because..why not? Bubble baths are fun, aren't they?"

"Yes! Cause I play wif my water toys!" said Ava excitedly.

"Exactly!" said Stacey who secretly wanted to get her bath done so she could sleep in a bit in the morning and also knowing that Dave would drive Ava to school if she asked. After the bath, and Ava in her pajamas, Stacey asked her what she wanted to do before bed.

"Can we play barbies?" she asked.

"Of course we can!" replied Stacey. Uncomfortably, Stacey slowly got down on her knees before sitting down on the carpet to play with her daughter. She vowed to spend as much quality time with her as she could before the baby came. Stacey had enough knowledge and experience with kids to know that Ava would definitely have some adjustment issues with a new sibling. They had been playing for almost 30 minutes before Ava started rubbing her eyes so Stacey asked her "Are you tired, honey?"

"No" said Ava.

"Yes you are" said Stacey. "Come on. Lay down in your bed. I'll read you a story."

"Oookay" said a clearly tired Ava. As she hopped into her bed, Stacey scanned Ava's bookshelf and her eyes landed on "A Cricket in Times Square," an old favorite of hers and a book she used to read to her favorite baby-sitting charge, Charlotte Johanssen. She smiled as she thought of her and looked forward to seeing her soon as Charlotte was flying out to attend the wedding. She had gotten through just a few pages when she glanced at Ava, who was already fallen asleep. As quietly as she could, Stacey gently kissed her daughter's forehead, got off the bed, slid the book back in the bookcase and turned off the light. Stacey walked back out to the living room to see Dave on the couch, watching TV. "Hey" he said. "Is she asleep?"

"Yeah" she said.

"Get over here, then" he said.

As Stacey snuggled up to her fiancé and laid her head against him, he put his arm around her shoulder. Recalling the earlier events of the day, she said "Good news. I found my dress!"

"Really? That's great!" he said.

"Claudia is having a friend alter it for me" she said, leaving out the fact that Claudia paid for it because she knew he'd insist on reimbursing her.

Dave then asked "would you like even better news?"

"Um, sure" said Stacey.

"We got an offer today" he said.

Stacey bolted up to look him in the face and loudly said "WHAT? Are you serious?!"

"I swear" said Dave.

"Oh, thank goodness!" said Stacey as she let out a sigh of relief.

Stacey and Dave had recently made an offer on a house about 20 minutes away but it was contingent on them selling her house in the next 20 days. With only a week left, Stacey was getting worried that they would lose their dream house, located up in the hills of Topanga Canyon. A one story light gray stucco home with a unique red front door, red brick chimney and matching brick accents, along with beautiful brick steps leading up to the front door. Brick homes were hard to come by in California due to earthquakes but obviously the home was built in the early 70's before earthquake provisions were required for all new buildings. Still, the owners assured Stacey and Dave that the entire house had been earthquake retrofitted, completely remodeled and was move in ready, with 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, dark cherry wood floors throughout the entire home and with a huge back yard for Ava to play in. It was quite expensive but since Stacey owned her house outright due to her inheritance and with Dave putting a large amount of money down, they would be able to get a nice mortgage and the payments would actually be less than most apartment rents in her area.

"I hope they don't back out" said Stacey. "We need that house."

"Just stay optimistic and keep your fingers crossed" said Dave.

"Fingers and toes" said Stacey, adding "so..we're really doing this?"

"Looks like it" he said with a smile.


	5. Chapter 5

As her female OBGYN Dr. Ross finished her ultrasound, she said "Everything looks good here, Stacey. This little one is developing perfectly!"

"Oh, thank goodness" replied Stacey. "I'm trying my best to stay healthy."

"Well, you're doing a fantastic job" said Dr. Ross as she handed Stacey a towel to wipe the ultrasound gel off her stomach. She then grabbed Stacey's file off of the counter, quickly scanning through it and said "and your latest blood tests look great. Everything is within range and kudos for that too. I know it's not easy for you." She closed the file before adding "so I'll need to see you again in 3 weeks and then after that, we'll need to see you every week to monitor you, just to play it safe."

"That's fine" said Stacey, adding "Any idea if I can try a natural birth this time?" Dr. Ross answered "it's hard to say right now. It's just that because of your condition and the fact that your first was born via c section, I'm going to assume that a natural birth won't be possible." Seeing the disappointment in Stacey's face, Dr. Ross quickly added "but we can certainly discuss that further once you're in your last month, ok?"

Stacey shrugged and said "ok," disappointed because she really wanted to experience natural childbirth. Dr. Ross smiled at her and said "and I still have your envelope in here, you know. Are you ready to take it home yet?"

Stacey had really tested her own willpower in not finding out the baby's gender. It was driving Dave nuts but at the same time, they both knew deep down that they were having a girl so the urge to find out wasn't as strong as it may have been for other couples. After almost 7 months though, Stacey knew she owed it to Dave to open that envelope with him so she sighed and said "Yes. I'll take it" and reached out her hand to take the envelope containing a piece of paper with her baby's gender written on it.

"Well, it's about time!" said her doctor. Already knowing the gender of course, Dr. Ross handed her the envelope and said with a wink "Congratulations..and we're all done here. I'll see you soon."

"Ok. Bye doc" said Stacey before the doctor left the room. She got off the ultrasound table, took off the gown and slipped back on her black tank top and long flowy black maternity skirt which had a pretty red and pink flower pattern, and walked back to the waiting room where Dave was and she saw him there, typing away on his laptop. Normally he comes in with her but since he had taken the morning off to come to her appointment, he needed to take care of some administrative school stuff before he came in.

"Dave" she said. "I'm done." He looked at her and said "Ok" and he minimized each open window before closing the laptop and then slipped it in his laptop bag. "Ready?" he asked Stacey.

"Yep. Let's go." As they walked back out to the parking lot, he asked "is everything ok?"

"Oh yeah. The doctor said everything is perfect" said Stacey.

"That's great" said Dave before she quickly added "and I wanted to tell you..I took the envelope!"

"You did?!" asked Dave excitedly. "Can we open it?!" Stacey laughed and said "Jeez, you sound like Ava on Christmas. Aren't you 42?" He laughed back and said "well, you're killing me here. I just want to officially know what that thing is, as he pointed to her stomach and added "so I can quit calling it a "thing." Or an "it."

"Don't worry" said Stacey. "I'm getting to that point too. Now if you can hold out for two more weeks, I was thinking that we could open this together, after the wedding. What do you say?"

Dave answered "Well, that certainly romantic and all" then paused for a few seconds before adding "but I really wanted to find out sooner.." as his voice trailed off. "Oh, fine. I'll wait, Stace. For you."

"Thank You!" exclaimed Stacey as she hugged him. "I just want something special for us after the wedding since we can't go on a honeymoon but I'm still giving this envelope to Claudia so you don't peek."

Dave walked Stacey to her car since they drove separately. Once there, he said "I'm sorry we can't go to lunch but I really need to get back to school. We have a faculty meeting and I have to get this presentation and all my outlines finished."

"Ahh, yes. Good ol' faculty meetings" sighed Stacey, still missing her job."

"They sure aren't the same without being able to look at your pretty face" he said.

"Oh, you" she said.

"I'll see you when I get home tonight" said Dave, adding "I love you" before giving her a kiss.

"I love you too" she said as she got in the car and closed the door. As Stacey began to drive away, she really couldn't believe that she had managed to get so lucky, finding a man like Dave. As she drove home, a bit of excitement built up in her, knowing that in two weeks, she'd be getting married and finding out for sure what the sex of her baby is. When she pulled into the driveway of her new home which was located on Dumetz drive, and that they had moved into a little over two weeks ago, she didn't park in the 2 car garage since it was still full of boxes and the new bed they had bought for Ava, which arrived a few days after they had already moved in. All of their furniture was set up beautifully by the movers and the new home was big enough to house everything they both owned, creating a nice and eclectic setup and really, a perfect representation of them and the family they were building together. While the hard part was done, there were still boxes in each room that contained things they needed to put away. With Stacey now being 7 months pregnant and unable to lift anything and with Dave working full time, not a lot of stuff was getting done. However, she really wanted to get to work on the kitchen, which was definitely doable and Dave had put all the kitchen boxes on the counter for her that morning so decided to get to work on that.

She spent the next hour putting away dishes, organizing glasses, hanging up pots and pans on the rack that Dave had installed, putting away all their cleaning products, screwing in the child safety hooks into the lower cabinets for when the baby started crawling (and also to keep Ava out) and creating a counter setup that she felt would work for everyone. After an hour of reaching, bending and squatting, she was a bit tired and sore but decided that would be her pregnancy exercise for the day and sat down to rest. Luckily for her, she wouldn't have to get back up to retrieve her wedding binder because it was already sitting on the couch. She opened it up to look at the seating arrangement that was still unfinished and saw just two open seats. One was Mr. Johanssen's "potential" plus one that he put on the rsvp and the other one was at the BSC table: Mary Anne Spier. Stacey had been so caught up with everything going on in her life that she had forgotten to follow up with Mary Anne, who still hadn't sent in her rsvp. With the wedding in just two weeks, Stacey was a little concerned and confused and knew she needed to contact her immediately so she sent her a text. "Hey. Are you busy?" A reply followed a few minutes later:

"No. I'm at work but not busy. Spring semester is over."

"Duh," thought Stacey, as she had already given a congratulatory call to Charlotte last month upon her graduation. She returned the text: "Can we talk?"

Mary Anne replied: "Sure. Let me step outside." About 5 minutes later, Stacey's phone rang.

"Hey you" she answered.

"Hey Stacey" said Mary Anne, very quietly, adding "So..what's going on?"

"Well, I guess I should ask you the same thing" said Stacey."

"What do you mean?" asked Mary Anne.

She answered "Well, I just wanted to talk to you. You know my wedding is in two weeks. Right?"

"Yes, of course I know." Mary Anne said in an almost solemn tone. "Kristy told me."

"KRISTY told you?" Stacey asked, bewildered. "Why would Kristy tell you. You knew I was getting married. I sent you an invitation. Why haven't you responded? I didn't..upset you at the reunion or anything, did I? Did I say something I shouldn't have? I mean, everything went so well and we had such a great time together and-"

"No, no no. Nothing like that" interrupted Mary Anne, who paused for a minute before saying "I never got an invitation, Stace."

"Of course you did!" exclaimed Stacey. I distinctly remember writing your address on the envelope and sending it to you" she said while flipping to the back of the binder with a list of everyone's addresses, which she had checked off as each envelope was addressed. "I have it right here. 177 Burnt Hill Ro-" She stopped and said "OH..MY..GOD!"

"Oh, Stace" said Mary Anne softly.

"I just, I've always had that address in my head and I guess I just instinctively wrote that. I can't believe I did that" said a horribly embarrassed Stacey. Mary let out a light chuckle and said "don't be embarrased. You wouldn't believe the stuff Dawn did when she was pregnant."

"Why didn't you say something?" asked Stacey. "I just wish you would have called me so we could have fixed this."

"I'm sorry. I just don't like confrontation. Being shy doesn't do me any favors" said Mary Anne in a sad tone.

"Well, I know it's short notice but is there ANY way we can get you out here for the wedding?" asked Stacey.

Mary Anne replied "I don't really know. I don't think I can afford a two way ticket on such short notice. You know how expensive it would be."

You can use my flyer miles!" blurted out Stacey.

"Really?" asked Mary Anne.

"Absolutely. Please let me get you the ticket" said Stacey.

"Are you sure?" asked Mary Anne.

Stacey replied "Of course."

"Ok. I'll let you" replied Mary Anne.

"Thank you!" said Stacey.

"No. Thank YOU!" said Mary Anne. "That's so generous of you. You're amazing."

"You want to fly in to John Wayne?" she asked, referring to the airport in Orange County, where Dawn lives.

"Oh yes, I'll stay with Dawn" she said, adding "but I'll have to take the red eye on Thursday night. I can't take much time off work. I'll have to leave on Sunday too."

"So you'll miss my bridal shower?" asked Stacey.

"I'm sorry" said Mary Anne.

"No. I'm sorry for screwing up but hey, let me get on this asap. I'll text you once I have your flight information, ok?" asked Stacey.

"That sounds great" replied Mary Anne.

"Bye, hon" said Stacey and she hung up. She used her phone to log into her credit card website to check out how many miles she had left after going to Connecticut and immediately her heart sank when she saw the number: 300. That was barely enough to get her to Nevada and back and she knew she should save those to visit her Mom. She sat back on the couch, thinking "now what? I can't pay for that either" and jokingly thought to herself that she needed to go make some rich friends quick. Then she bolted up and said out loud "I do have rich friends!" Dawn and Kristy are both extremely well off, and being the sister and the best friend, why WOULDN'T they help out? As the wedding loomed closer, Stacey had definitely let go of some of her pride to accept help and gifts from others so it wasn't too hard for her to make those phone calls to Kristy and Dawn and it went as smoothly as she expected, met with no hesitation but with the promise of not telling Mary Anne, both of them wanting Stacey to take the credit since she was still embarrassed about her mistake.

It was settled. Mary Anne had a ticket, Dawn saying she would handle the booking because Mary Anne would be flying into her home airport and not LAX. Stacey quickly texted Mary Anne to tell her the good news and that her ticket would be purchased that afternoon.

Now everything really was done and she was promised by Claudia that the dress would be finished in a few more days. Now she had her bridal shower the following weekend to look forward to, which was being planned by her mother and Claudia. Two more weeks and she was finally going to be Mrs. Adams. After everything that she had been through, with her parents ugly divorce and her own turbulent relationship with Ben, Stacey was finally going to have the "real" family that she has always wanted.


	6. Chapter 6

"Oh, honey! It's beautiful! " exclaimed Stacey's mom Maureen, who had flown in from Nevada two days ago, as Stacey put on her finished wedding dress.

"It really is" said Claudia as all three of them stood in front of the mirrored closet doors in her new bedroom. "and it fits perfectly."

Stacey slowly twirled around and the new ruffles that were added to the bottom beautifully swished around with her. Claudia's alteration ideas were so on point and with the inner lining that was added, it was no longer see through and looked very classy. Stacey said "I love clothes but Claud, your artistic eye is incredible" before turning to her Mom and saying "seriously, Mom. This was a legit mumu when we bought it." Her mom laughed and repeated herself, saying "well, it sure is beautiful now." She then turned to Ava who was sitting on the floor playing around with her Barbie dolls, oblivious to what the adults were doing and asked her, "Sweetie, what do think of mama's dress?" Ava looked at her mother and her eyes lit up as she said "That's so pretty mommy! Buy it!" Stacey smiled at Ava's response and just went along with it saying "Ok, I will." "Yaaaay!" shouted Ava before going back to playing. Claudia said quietly to Stacey "So innocent."

Maureen asked Stacey, "have you decided what to do with your hair yet?"

Stacey replied "Well, I was thinking loose waves, just to match the dress since its all flowy."

"I think that would look lovely" said Maureen. "Especially with your hair as long as it is now. I remember how great my hair looked when I was pregnant with you."

Just then, Stacey's phone started buzzing and still wanting to check out the dress, she asked Claudia "can you check that? It's in my purse."

Claudia reached into Stacey's purse that was on the bed and pulled out her phone, making a sour face before saying "It's Ben," referring to Stacey's ex-boyfriend and Ava's father. He was there to pick up Ava for his weekend, which was perfect timing since Stacey, her Mom and Claudia were heading out in the next 30 minutes to The Villa restaurant, where Stacey was having her bridal shower on their outdoor patio. She mouthed to Claudia "Be nice" before saying to Maureen, "I need to get dressed. Mom? Can you..?"

"Oh, sure, hon. I suppose I better say hi to him anyway." She looked at Ava and said, "Your Daddy's here, sweetie."

"Daddys here! Daddy's here!" squealed Ava.

"Let's go get your bag" said Maureen as Ava ran out of the room with her Grandma.

Claudia gently helped Stacey out of her dress, trying not to wrinkle it or rub off any of Stacey's fresh makeup. Claudia went to hang up the dress while Stacey slipped on her sleveless wrap dress. Despite the current summer heat, Stacey was wearing a black dress. It wasn't so much that she wanted to wear black as much as that was the only dress she could find at the maternity store that looked nice and didn't accentuate her "armpit cleavage," which was what she called the very tiny amount of weight that pregnancy had added to her arms. With the subtle jewelry she had chosen, her hair in a low, messy bun and her black strappy leather sandals she was wearing, it looked very casual. Perfect for a party on a patio. Once fully dressed, Stacey sighed and said "well, I better go talk to him. I'll be back" knowing Claudia had no desire to see him. As she walked towards her open front door, she saw Ben's unmistakable dark, curly and frizzy hair, which Stacey was so glad Ava didn't inherit. He was speaking to her mom in the doorway, Ava already standing on the other side of the door, holding his hand. She took a deep breath and said "Hey Ben" she said.

Maureen, figuring they might need a minute, quickly said "Ava, lets go potty before you go to your Daddy's, ok?" Luckily Ava was compliant and went straight to the restroom with grandma, Maureen calling over her shoulder saying, "Good to see you, Ben."

"Hey" said Ben awkwardly. "You look nice."

"Thanks" she said, wondering if it was weird for Ben to see her pregnant with another man's child before adding "My bridal shower is today."

He replied "Yeah, I know. Your mom told me." Not really knowing what else to say to him, Stacey said "well, I'm glad you found the new house."

He replied "It wasn't that hard. This place is really nice."

An awkward silence followed before Ben started talking again, saying "Look, Stace. I know we don't get along and I know we don't talk anymore, but that doesn't mean I don't want you to be happy. You're still the mother of my daughter. I see so much of you in her."

"She is a little me, isn't she?" said Stacey.

"Oh yes. When I look at her, it reminds me that you and I did have a good time together, at one point in time."

"I guess" said Stacey

"Can we try to be more civil?" he asked.

Stacey sighed and said "yeah, we probably should. For Ava." Ben didn't say anything else so Stacey asked "Why are you being nice to me, Ben?"

"Well, the dinner I had with Dave last week went very well. He's a good guy, I trust him with my daughter and talking to him and seeing how much he loves you. Well, he reminded me of all your good qualities that I sometimes forget about" he said. "I know we don't see eye to eye but I know you're a good person."

A little taken aback , Stacey said "that's very nice. Thank you."

Just then, Ava walked back into the doorway. Ben looked at her and said "are you ready to go?"

"I'm ready, Daddy" she responded. "I want ice cream!" Ben glanced at Stacey, his eyebrows slightly raised and Stacey just shrugged and said "whatever," but did so with a smile. Ava then ran up to her and gave her the usual hug around the legs and said "bye mommy. I love you!"

"I love you too, honey. Have fun" said Stacey as Ava then bounced down each step leading down to the street. Not in a good enough place to hug each other, Ben just turned around and said to Stacey "congratulations" then walked away. Stacey walked back into the house, closed the front door and leaned against it for a minute, in shock about what just happened. Hearing the door close, Maureen and Claudia both walked into the entry hall together. The look on Stacey's face prompted her mom to ask "are you alright?"

"Ben was actually nice to me" said Stacey. "He said congratulations too."

Her mom didn't respond but Claudia said "first Robert at the reunion and now THIS? Can you tell me what your secret is to make all these men fall in love with you?" That caused Stacey's mom to burst out and Stacey to say to Claudia " Oh, shut up!" Claudia was laughing too but calmed down enough to ask her, "So, are you ready to go?"

Now feeling a little more relaxed, Stacey replied "I sure am."

As the three of them walked outside to Claudia's car, she yelled "It's party time!"


	7. Chapter 7

When the three of the arrived at The Villa restaurant, Stacey saw three cars already in the parking lot but she only recognized two of them. The black SUV belonged to her old friend, Dawn Schaefer-Weiss, which delighted Stacey knowing she was already inside. The gray honda civic belonged to Lisa Bell, a friend and former co-worker who taught 9th grade english at Notre Dame. Claudia pulled into a spot just a few down from her and as Stacey got out, she saw her curly haired friend already walking away. "Lis!" she called out to her.

Lisa whipped around her dark curls and waved to Stacey, saying back "Hey you!"

Lisa walked up to Stacey, gave her a big hug and asked "How are you?"

Stacey looked at her friend, who looked about 20, even though she was 37. Her slightly chubby build was included in her face, eliminating any wrinkles. Still, she was pretty decent looking.

"I'm doing good. I'm really looking forward to this" she said.

"Me too" she said, as she touched Stacey's baby bump. "I can't believe there's a little Principal Adams in there!"

"Well, a little girl Adams" said Stacey.

"It's a girl?!" she shrieked. "He never told us!"

"Oh shoot" said Stacey. "I shouldn't say that. No, we don't know officially but we are 99% sure. Did you just get that mother's intuition with your kids?"

"Oh, totally" said Lisa, who looked to the left of Stacey and said "Hey Claudia."

Claudia smiled at her and said "Hey, girl." Stacey then turned to her right and said "Lisa, this is my mother, Maureen.

"Oh, hi! It's so nice to meet you!" she said. "You too" replied Maureen. Lisa looked her up and down, from her shoulder length hair, which she still dyed blonde, to her slender build and classy attire, and said "you look so much like Stacey. You're so pretty."

Maureen replied "Well aren't you sweet? Thanks!"

"Who's ready?" interjected Claudia, eager to get inside and see Dawn. "Let's go!"

The patio that they had reserved was gorgeous. Stacey especially liked the vines and ivy growing along the entire outside wall of the restaurant and the side of the patio for dining was lined with huge arched trellises that had some kind of covered cloth over the tops, presumably to keep rain out, and instead of flowers or vines, they had small white lights woven through them. Even though it was noon in June, the cloth kept the sun out, making the patio shady and the white lights twinkling added a beautiful touch. Four round tables were set up and the china and silverware were already in place, with a glass pitcher of water placed in the middle. There was also a fire pit on the opposite side of the restaurant wall but since it wasnt getting any use at this summer party, two long tables were set up in front of it. Stacey assumed those were for gifts, although she thought one table would have been sufficient since less than 20 people were attending.

After marveling at the place for a minute, Stacey's eyes then turned to the two ladies sitting together at one of the tables and she feel her heart filling up with joy. There were two of her oldest friends, Dawn and Kristy. "Girls!" she shouted. Both of them turned to Stacey and immediately bolted up and ran over to her, sandwiching her in a double hug.

Kristy then pulled Stacey into a separate hug and exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, look at you!"

"Hey, let me have her!" said Dawn, who pulled Stacey into a hug as well. Stacey reached around Dawn's waist, hugging her back and noticed her arms overlapped. She pulled back, looking at Dawn's svelte figure and saying "what the hell, Dawn? You just had a baby!"

"Well, six weeks ago" replied Dawn.

Stacey told her, "I love you to death, but I also hate you a little right now too."

"Oh, stop" said Dawn. "You'll get there too."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Claudia and Kristy already hugging each other as Dawn said "Claud! I haven't seen you in forever!" but obviously joking since Claudia had driven down to Dawn's house the weekend before to go meet her newborn son, River. Then Dawn and Kristy, almost in unison, both let out a little squeal when they spotted Stacey's mom and ran over to her, giving her the same double hug they gave Stacey.

The next hour was a constant stream of arrivals. Ashley, from Ava's preschool, several more teachers from Notre Dame, a few mothers of Ava's school friends, her old neighbor from her now old house in Studio City and many other people who had become part of Stacey's life over her last 10 years in California.

As everyone ate lunch, Stacey grabbed her plate so she could mingle around and chat with everyone in between bites. Once she made her way to the table that Dawn, Kristy and Claudia were sitting at, she thought it was so cool to see her old friends sitting and chatting with some of her newer ones. Luckily there was an open seat so Stacey sat down to have a nice talk with them, the conversation ranging from Kristy's vacation plans for her next two weeks in California , to work, to weddings, to babies and of course, to the unfortunate absence of both Mary Anne and Charlotte, who was too busy to fly out that weekend. They would have kept going, if not for a familiar voice that boomed in behind her saying, "Alright ladies! I'm here!"

Stacey turned around to see Dave, who had arrived for the traditional opening of the wedding gifts but that being put on hold for the next 20 minutes while Dave greeted everyone he did know and was introduced to the ladies he didn't know. Dawn had met Dave once before, about a year ago but Kristy was thrilled to finally meet him and she liked him immediately.

The gift opening went pretty quickly, as Stacey and Dave were both already settled and didn't really need anything for their home and only registered for some replacement stainless steel kitchen appliances that matched their kitchen a bit better. It had been less than two hours and she thought her party was pretty much over..

..until she heard a fork gently tapping a glass. Then her mother stood up and said "Ok, everyone. This bridal shower is indeed over, but please don't leave yet." Then she looked at Stacey and said "We have a little surprise for you!"


	8. Chapter 8

Stacey looked at Dave and asked "What's going on?" He just smiled at her and shrugged but said nothing .

Kristy, Claudia and Maureen walked over to the gift tables that had been set up, Claudia speaking first. "Well, since you are not only getting married, but getting married all preggers" making everyone laugh,, "we thought this would be perfect timing to throw you a baby shower too!"

Shocked, Stacey asked "Are you serious?"

Maureen piped in, saying "Yes! You never mentioned to any of us, anything about a baby shower."

"It's my second child" said Stacey. "I thought it was only for the first."

"Oh, not after 4 years" chimed in Kristy. "You're entitled to another." Stacey gave Kristy a sarcastic stink eye, saying "I'll bet anything this was YOUR idea. Wasn't it?"

Kristy said nothing and instead, just batted her eyes, indicating her guilt.

Claudia put her arm around Kristy and said "We can always count on this girl for her great ideas."

"Let's get started, shall we?" said Maureen, which was met with a light applause from the small group.

Three waiters then walked in, holding bags, carrying boxes and a few envelopes. Stacey realized that everyone had dropped off their secret baby gifts with the hostess as they arrived.

Stacey and Dave had a wonderful time opening baby gifts, Dave definitely more excited since it was his first time experiencing this, but it didn't really take much longer than the opening of the wedding gifts, as they mostly received gift cards to various baby store, since they weren't registered. Some basic unisex tan onesies were in the mix, along with a baby bathtub and an adorable tiny yellow bathrobe, which Stacey loved.

Once that was over, Dave leaned over and whispered in Stacey's ear, "How about one more surprise?"

"MORE?" she wearily asked. "I don't want to die of a heart attack before the baby's born."

"I think you'll like this one" he said, grinning and then gestured to Claudia to come over. Unerneath one of the gift tables, there was a large cardboard box, taped closed.

"What is this?" asked Stacey.

"Well, since you gave ME the envelope, I took it to the party store and had them take a little peek." said Claudia. Dave interrupted and said "This box is filled with either pink or blue balloons."

"I didn't look at it" added Claudia. "They sealed it up in a new envelope."

"It's up to you if you want to find out here. I just thought it would be awesome to find out here, in front of everyone who we care about . What do you think?" he asked.

Overwhelmed, but at the same time, completely touched by Dave and Claudia's gesture, Stacey knew that it was the perfect time.

"Ok guys. Let's do it!"

Dave immediately snatched the box from under the table and put it on top. Stacey whispered to Claudia "Did you peek?"

Claudia laughed and said "I tried to look through the crack but its pretty dark in there."

At the same time, Stacey saw Dave peeking through a slit in the box, probably the same one Claudia did. "Stop that!" she sternly said to Dave, but then gave him a look that he was able to interpret as her asking what was in there. He nodded his head and mouthed "pink" reassuring Stacey but she was still excited for all her friends to be surprised.

In his loud Principal Adams voice, Dave said "LADIES!" which shut up the chatter real quick and he continued on. "We have an announcement! Since we keep looking for an excuse NOT to let this party end, we have one more surprise." He gestured to the box with one arm, saying "In this box are balloons, which are either pink or blue. We don't know the sex, and we would like to find out. Finally. With all of you!" Everyone began clapping and cheering but before it even died down, Dave said "I'm not going to waste any time. Can someone find me a knife so I can slice this thing open?" Reliable Kristy held up her keys and yelled "right here!" and rushed up to Dave, saying "Swiss army knife keychain!"

"NICE!" he said, taking it and then slowly slicing the tape covering the top, placing his hand over it so no balloons would escape and then gently slicing the sides. He then put the knife on the table before saying "everyone ready?"

A loud cheer followed, intermixed with many different voices yelling "YEAH!"

Dave grabbed the box and walked over to the uncovered part of the patio, Stacey following. Still holding it closed, he said "On a count of three. ONE..TWO..THREE!" and let his hand off the box, releasing a dozen balloons into the air. Stacey looked up at them, unable to speak, but hearing everyone clapping.

OH MY GOD!" she heard Dave say. She quickly glanced at Dave who was staring at the sky, and she saw a small tear fall down the side of his face before looking back up at all the blue balloons fading away in the distance. She looked back at Dave, who was already looking at her and immediately cupped her face in both hands. She looked at him and said quietly "A..boy?"

He nodded and said "A boy" before gently kissing her on the lips.


	9. Chapter 9

"It's ok. Just breathe" Claudia told Stacey as she fastened her necklace, which was a delicate sterling silver teardrop shaped pendant inlaid with a pear shaped diamond, which was her "something new" and an extremely generous gift given to her by Kristy. Her old was the diamond tennis bracelet that she'd had for years, her borrowed were the gladiator sandals that Dawn had worn to the reunion and her something blue were the forget me not flowers in her bouquet, which matched Claudia's dress.

"I'm trying" said Stacey. "I'm just so nervous. I can't believe I'm getting married."

Just then, the wedding coordinator poked her head in and said, "everyone has been seated. Are you all ready?" Claudia ran her fingers through Stacey's loose curls while Charlotte, who had flown in the day before, smoothed out the back of her dress and said "I think we all are" before turning to Stacey and asking "You ready to do this, Stace?"

She smiled and said "I am."

"Ok. I have to get out there but you really do look beautiful. Truly perfect, Stace" said Charlotte. Stacey felt her eyes get a bit moist and she gave Charlotte a big hug.

"Thank you" said Stacey, adding "I'm so proud of you too."

"Oh stop. This day is about you, not me" said Charlotte before asking little Ava "are you ready to go, flower girl?"

"Ready!" replied Ava.

Charlotte then asked "now you remember exactly what to do, don't you?"

Ava answered "yes Auntie Char! I walk on the white rug and drop my flowers."

"What else?"

"Oooh yeah! Then I sit next to grandma Samantha!" she said.

"Very good! Make sure to hold my hand the whole time, ok?" said Charlotte.

"Okey dokey!" she said. Charlotte then took Ava's hand and walked out of the room, Stacey hearing a very faint "Bye Mommy!" a few seconds later.

The wedding coordinator repeated herself, "Are you ready, ladies?" Stacey took a deep breath and said "Ok. Let's do this." Stacey pulled up her dress, ensuring that she wouldn't step on the ruffles and walked outside with Claudia and her Mom.

As they walked closer to the double glass doors that led to the garden, Stacey could see that the white carpet, which started immediately from the doors, was already adorned with the blue and white petals and she could see Ava for just a second before she took her seat next to Stacey's stepmom. Dana then opened the doors and Stacey linked arms with both her mother and Claudia waiting for the music to start.

A delicate version of Pachelbel Canon began just a few seconds later, courtesy of Claudia's boyfriend Frankie, who was sitting off to the side of the wedding arch playing the song on his acoustic guitar. Stacey smiled when she saw him all cleaned up, sans piercings and his tattoos hidden under his suit. The three of them began walking down the aisle and while Dave was already at the alter waiting for her, she didn't look at him and instead, kept looking to both sides of the aisle at all the guests. Her stepmother Samantha, her uncle, Dave's parents and his brother and sister, a bunch of his friends, all the members of the BSC, fellow teachers, Charlotte, Mr. Johansson and his new girlfriend, Tess Swinhart, her friend from middle school wearing her classic pink and many others who were so dear to Dave and herself and she felt truly touched that so many people had come for her special day.

Then she looked up. Dave was standing there, beaming and grinning from ear to ear but not crying, which Stacey was very glad of because she knew if he cried, so would she.

With the help of Claudia and her mother, very pregnant Stacey carefully walked up the two steps to the raised platform where they would recite their vows underneath the beautiful arch. A lady named Reverend Barbara, who was recommended to Stacey by the wedding coordinator, conducted the ceremony.

"You may all be seated" she said, and began the classic speech of "We are all gathered here today to celebrate the marriage of Stacey and Dave.." but the words faded away as Stacey tuned all of that out, instead just looking at how handsome her soon to be husband looked. After just a few minutes, it was time for the vows. While neither of them were religious, they opted to recite simple but traditional Catholic vows out of respect for all the coworkers they worked with at Notre Dame, all of whom actually were Catholic. Dave began first:

"I, David, take you, Stacey, to be my lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part. I will love and honor you all the days of my life."

Then it was Stacey's turn:

"I, Stacey, take you, David, for my lawful wedded husband. To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part. I will love and honor you all the days of my life."

The short and sweet ceremony then concluded with Barbara announcing "Then by the power vested in me, by the state of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife. David, you may now kiss your bride."

David immediately gave her a soft, gentle kiss on the lips. Probably the subtlest kiss had ever given her, yet Stacey felt that it was by far, the most romantic moment they had ever shared.

As they both turned to face their guests, Barbara announced "Ladies and Gentleman, may I please introduce to you Mr. and Mrs. David Adams!"

The crowd erupted in clapping and cheers as Dave took Stacey's hand and helped her walk back down the steps, down the aisle and directly back into the clubhouse, for a few minutes together before everyone followed them in a few minutes later for snacks, drinks and pictures. Before long, it was time for everyone to shuffle outside to the other side of the clubhouse to the reception in the garden. White tables scattered all around a dance floor, which Stacey and Dave immediately went to after all the guests had taken their seats. Their first dance, to Elvis' "I can't help falling in love with you," was the perfect song to describe their relationship. They had no business getting together, yet their love and attraction was too strong to keep them apart.

The reception was beautiful. Dancing, mingling and too many touching and emotional toasts to keep track of and before they knew it, the hot and bright summer sky began fading to a warm pink sunset and eventually, people began leaving. The final saddest goodbye was to her oldest and dearest friends, Kristy, Mary Anne and Charlotte, with Stacey not knowing when she'd see them again.

After Claudia and Maureen left with Ava to go back to Stacey's house, Stacey and Dave headed to the Malibu Beach Inn for their first night together as man and wife. Dave immediately wanted to take a shower after wearing a suit in the hot summer sun for hours so Stacey changed into some simple white cotton pajamas and opened the balcony doors that overlooked the ocean and carefully began removing all the white and fragrant rose petals scattered on the bed. Once clear, she laid in the bed, enjoying the warm ocean breeze and the smell of the sea air. As she listened to the waves crash, and in disbelief that her wedding day had so quickly come and gone, she began reflecting on everything that had happened in the last two and a half years of her life. Beginning her teaching job while still in such a horrible place fresh off her breakup with Ben, her very first meeting with a very intimidating Principal who she immediately became afraid of and knew she wouldn't like. Her first staff meeting, where she subconsciously felt an attraction to her boss after listening to him talk, the staff holiday party where she enjoyed seeing him more relaxed and the subsequent drunken kiss in the bathroom later that night that blossomed into real love, and now here they were. She waited her whole life to find happiness and it fell on her lap when she least expected it.

When Dave emerged from the bathroom, only wearing a white towel, Stacey smiled and unbuttoned a few buttons of her pajama top to reveal a lacy blue bra, even though she thought it was pretty comical for them to consummate their marriage with her being so pregnant, she still couldnt wait to do it and by the way her new husband smiled back at her, it was obvious that he couldn't either.


	10. Chapter 10

"Honey, what are you DOING?" asked a very agitated Dave.

With an envelope in her hand, Stacey calmly said "I just wanted to open this real quick."

Dave said "Stacey, you're having surgery in 2 hours! We can't be messing around with the mail right now when we need to get to the-"

"Here it is!" interrupted Stacey.

"Here WHAT is?" he asked.

She replied "It's my new drivers license!"

"Are you kidding me?" asked Dave.

She responded "Well, I'm going to need it, right? What perfect timing!"

Dave rolled his eyes as Stacey opened her mail. She looked at her new name: Stacey Elizabeth Adams, having already legally changed her name from Anastasia to Stacey many years ago. Luckily, she was able to use the same picture.

"Dave, relax. "I'm not actually in labor. My water isn't going to break in the car either" she joked.

"I know.." he trailed off.

She had never seen Dave so unglued but she also realized that this was his first time experiencing all of this so she didn't feel the need to give him any grief. In fact, she thought his apprehension was actually quite adorable.

With Claudia taking care of Ava, they only had to worry about themselves and after Stacey slipped her new license in her wallet, she and Dave went out to the car, overnight bags in hand.

They arrived at the hospital at 8:00 am on the dot, her surgery scheduled for 10:00 am. Having pre-registered, it was a very quick process of getting Stacey checked in, assigned a room and into a hospital gown.

Resting comfortably in her hospital bed, waiting for a nurse to come administer the IV, Stacey and Dave enjoyed about 20 minutes alone together. Now that they were checked in and settled, Dave seemed to calm down a bit and said to Stacey, "Honey, I'm really sorry you have to have another c-section. I know how badly you wanted to try a natural birth." Having already gotten over it, Stacey just shrugged and said "it is what it is. We're still getting our baby no matter what, right?"

It didn't take long for the time to pass and before long, a nurse came in with a pair of scrubs for Dave to change into and after he went into the bathroom to do so, the nurse administered Stacey's IV. As she walked out of the room, she said "We're prepping the OR for you,. Mrs. Adams. It will be just another ten minutes or so, ok?"

"Sounds good. Thank you" said Stacey, who felt a sudden wave of nervous excitement run through her body.

Dave walked along side Stacey's gurney, holding her hand as she was wheeled into the operating room, but suddenly stopped at the door and said "I'm sorry but I can't watch you get a needle stuck in your back."

Stacey rolled her eyes and said "Seriously, babe?"

"I might pass out" he said.

Not mad but certainly not in the mood to give him crap, Stacey sighed and said "Oh, alright."

"We'll let you know when we're finished" said the nurse.

Once behind the closed doors, the nurse whispered to Stacey, "men, huh?"

Stacey chuckled and joined in at poking fun at her husband saying "Right?! Can't live with 'em-"

"The end!" interrupted the nurse, making Stacey laugh again. She shook her head and said "it happens all the time here."

After a seamless and relatively painless epidural, Stacey was laid back down and a sheet immediately put up over her neck, leaving her unable to see anything going on in the operating room. Her legs began tingling as the drugs worked their way up her body and Dave soon appeared next to her. Hearing people start shuffling in the room and machines starting to beep, seeing a bright light moved over her midsection, the smell of cleaning product and rubbing alcohol and seeing Dave suited up in operating room garb, all simultaneously, Stacey began to panic. Not to the point of anyone noticing but the kind of nervousness that made her feel like she was on a rollercoaster drop and tears just began pouring from the sides of her eyes like a faucet and they wouldn't stop. Dave began stroking her head and said "it's ok, Stace."

Her lips began quivering, not sure if it was from emotion or the epidural but she asked Dave tearfully, "are you ready for this?"

He leaned in closer to her and whispered in her ear "I've never been more excited for anything in my life."

A familiar female voice resounded from the other side of the room, as Stacey's OBGYN asked "alright. Is everyone in?" A few voices responded back and then her doctor poked her head over the divider. "Hey hon. You ready?" Stacey smiled back at her and nodded.

"Ok. Let's get started."


	11. Chapter 11

Zachary Edward Adams was born at 10:34am, weighing in at a whopping 9lbs 6 ounces and 21 inches long. While Stacey and the baby needed to be closely monitored immediately after the birth because of her diabetes and the baby taken to the NICU as a precaution, there were absolutely zero complications for either of them and within an hour of being born, baby Zack was in Stacey's arms. Dave was in utter shock for the first few hours, scared to touch him or hold him but after the nurse forcibly put the baby in his arms, Dave's demeanor changed immediately as he fell in love with his new son. After deciding to have Ava come visit the next morning, the two of them spent the whole day cuddling together with their beautiful new son, both of them in complete bliss.

Day two of Zack's life came before they knew it. Dave and Stacey decided to squeeze in a quick nap before Claudia was to arrive with Ava and while Dave snoozed away in a chair in the corner, Stacey remained wide awake, just staring at him. He hadn't opened his eyes yet but Stacey was positive they'd be blue and he had an adorable tuft of blonde hair on the top of his head. Stacey didn't think she'd have room in her heart for another child, but she was proved wrong as she was completely in love with this little boy.

Stacey's moment was then interrupted when she heard Ava's little voice say "Hi Mommy!" as she walked through the door with Claudia.

"Hi honey" said Stacey.

Wide-eyed Ava just stared at her new brother and asked "That's the baby?"

She replied "This is your baby brother, Zack."

Claudia, misty eyed and with a huge grin on her face, didn't say anything and just carefully lifted up Ava onto Stacey's bed and she quickly snuggled up to her mom. Claudia turned to Dave, who'd awaken and was now standing up, gave him a big hug and said "Congratulations, Daddy!"

While this beautiful moment was happening, Stacey also knew what was to come. Sleepless nights, screaming baby, grumpy and exhausted parents, bickering and quite possibly a jealous big sister and she wasn't looking forward to any of it. Nor was she looking forward to continuing to deal with her diabetes, not being able to teach for a while or the many years of having Ava's father in her life. Sure, she had found true love, she had a great new house and didn't have to worry about money anymore but this baby still wasn't born into a perfect situation. Things definitely COULD be much better..

but as Stacey looked at her beautiful baby boy and her darling first-born daughter, then to her wonderful new husband and finally to her amazing best friend who had been with her through thick and thin..she knew they didn't HAVE to.


	12. Chapter 12

THE END.

Thanks for reading Stacey's Wedding! I'm sorry it took so long and thanks for the feedback. Who would you like to read about next? Anything you'd like to see happen to our girls? I have some ideas but I want to hear from others first.. More to come!


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